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Friday, April 29, 2011

Thomas Walters

Thomas Walters is the 4th Great Grandfather of my wife.

I've already written about Thomas' son John Walters. I waited to write about Thomas as I was searching for additional information on him. There is speculation that Thomas served in the Revolutionary War serving under George Washington. I was hoping to find some concrete information to corroborate this. Well - I have not been able to prove that yet.

Thomas was born in 1757. Some records indicate he was born in Virginia and others speculate his birth as England. I'm not really sure either way.

Thomas Walters is listed in the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) as Ancestor #A120187. The status of his ancestor # is 'FUTURE APPLICANTS MUST PROVE CORRECT SERVICE'. Apparently at one time he was accepted as a veteran of the Revolutionary War but his service is now in question. So in order for future generations to be accepted as a member of DAR - they would need to prove his service. A daunting task I'm sure!

The earliest applicant for the DAR was Ginerva Walters. Ginerva is descended from Thomas through his son Daniel. As far as I can tell no one from John's line, that is my wife's line, has applied to be recognized in the DAR.

In Ginerva's application she lists Thomas Walters wife as Mary E. Sibley. I've seen the name more often quoted as Sively though. There is another ancestor in the DAR database for a Jacob Sievley. Jacob is believed to be the brother of Elizabeth Sivley. Both Jacob and Thomas are thought to have served together. Jacob is a recognized veteran of the Revolutionary War and did serve under George Washington. The father of Jacob and Elizabeth is believed to be Joseph Sively and he is also believed to have served in the War.

In her application, Ginerva listed the children of Thomas Walters and Mary E Sibley (or Elizabeth Sivley) as:

Thomas Walters dies 26 August 1826 in Madison County, Alabama. I have transcribed his Last Will and Testament below.

It should be noted that the person Thomas names that owes him money in Tennessee last name is Reneau. One would assume that this William Reneau is related to husband of his daughter Susan. Her husband's name is Fleming Reneau.

It is unknown where Thomas Walters is buried in Madison County, Alabama.

Steve, I have done some research on Thomas Walters (1757). In looking at the revolutionary war microfilm I found two Thomas's, one a private (I believe is the Dunmore Thomas) and the other a drummer (I believe to be the Halifax Thomas). However, I have yet to find any of the Halifax Thomas to relate which of the two soldiers he was. This might clear up some confusion. I also found the Dunmore Thomas in the 1787 Virginia census book working for Tanner along with several of his brothers, I also found in the 1790 Virginia census book Daniel(I believe to be Thomas's father listed in the same census as Catherine Sievely, the next year list Peter as the head so I can conclude the men came back from the war. I also found some land patents for both Thomas and Catherine when searching the Virginia digital archives but I didn't have ink to print them and have had trouble relocating them. The other fact I found was that George Washington has also surveyed much of the land that was in Shennandoah Mountains. I also know that I found Thomas's brother John's record to marriage to Sarah under Waturs. Since many were illiterate in those days and given the German heritage with differing symbols for various sounds I might be prudent to consider this part when researching the family. Also, if his son William was as much of a Whig as is in many history books, it might explain why he was not in the will as he had already achieve much monetary security and the family was very divide politically. This also explains part of the statement in the book History of Fulton County, Illinois about the red and the blue (referring to politics and not Red haired and dark hair as I have read some refer too)

Anonymous - I did find it interesting that Thomas didn't mention his other children in his Will. It appears he didn't leave anything to children who had already moved on to Illinois - and chose only to leave things to children that were still in Alabama. I hadn't considered the different political views as a reason - but as passinate as some people are today - I'm sure they were just as much back then.

Thanks for the information. I'll have to explore the land tracts you mention. And someday home to prove the service during the Revolutionary War.

Hi! I am a descendant of Thomas Walters also. Thomas had a daughter, Alley, sometimes recorded as Alcy, who was born in Tennessee in 1802. She married Jesse Roan who is buried in Morgan County along with Alley, or Alcy. Jesse was also appointed as one of the executors of Thomas's will along with Daniel. Maybe Thomas did not mention some of his children in his will because they were already married and received his help in getting started or were reasonably well off. I'm trying to find where Thomas is buried and having no luck so far. It could be he is buried on the land he lived on at the time of his death, or maybe both he and Elizabeth are buried in the Sivley cemetery and the markers broken or unreadable or just lost. Maybe they are buried in Morgan County. I live in Florida, but will be visiting Madison County, where I was born, in December. I've prowled through the records there before, but maybe I will give it another go.

I believe Thomas and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Sivley, came to Huntsville to join some of her brothers. I believe Thomas and Elizabeth's family were lifelong friends. Their names, especially Sivley, are terribly hard to trace due to so many variations of spelling.